Christian Liberty repeats regional title feat
Winning regional titles is beginning to get habit-forming for Christian Liberty Academy.
For the second straight year, the Chargers are Class A regional champions after hanging on for a 3-2 victory over Kirkland Hiawatha at Hinckley-Big Rock on Saturday.
Christian Liberty scored 1 run in the first inning on doubles from seniors Aaron Cunningham and Aaron Karr.
The Chargers added to the lead with 2 more runs in the third on a triple by senior Dylan Antonides and a double by freshman Aiden Miller.
Winning pitcher Tom Keplar delivered a strong start, and Antonides closed out the game, which ended as Christian Liberty's catcher, Miller, threw out a Hiawatha runner at second base.
Christian Liberty coach Jed Bennett said two keys for his team were its recent knack for solit hitting combined with good fielding.
Against both Hiawatha and Alden-Hebron (in a 7-4 regional semifinal win on Wednesday), the Chargers played error-free ball.
"I think this might even be a bigger win than last year," said Christian Liberty coach Jed Bennett. "Last year we were the No. 1 seed in our regional, and this year we were the No. 3."
Next up for Christian Liberty is an appearance in the Lena-Winslow sectional semifinals. They'll meet Freeport Aquin at about 6:45 p.m. in the second of two semifinal games Wednesday, following the first semi featuring Shabbona Indian Creek and Lena Winslow (4 p.m. start).
Hersey splits with McHenry: Luis Rosado pitched 5 hitless and scoreless relief innings to help give Hersey an opportunity to catch up to the Warriors in nonconference play.
And the Huskies did so, getting the go-ahead run in the sixth inning in a 4-3 victory. McHenry did all its scoring in the first inning.
Ryan Allain homered, Joe Silva doubled and Andrew Segalla finished 3-for-4 with an RBI.
Segalla, Joe Silva and Ryan Allain had 2 hits apiece, but the visiting Huskies (17-16-1) came up short in their final regular-season game of the season in an 11-5 decison.
York 6, Prospect 5: The host Knights rallied late but couldn't quite catch the Dukes in nonconference play.
Prospect (18-13-1) had been shut out through five innings before scoring 4 in the sixth and one more in the seventh.
Jack Courtney went 2-for-2 with a double and 3 RBI as the Knights were limited to a total of 4 hits.
Lake Forest 6, Barrington 4: The Broncos dropped to 25-10 after a nonconference loss at home.
Luke Johnson had an RBI triple in the sixth inning and scored on an errant throw to third as Barrington drew closer, but Lake Forest (23-12) managed to protect the lead in the seventh.
Mateo Hargitt went 3-for-3 with 2 steals and 2 RBI, and J.R. Reimer hit a solo homer in the fourth inning for the Scouts.
Crystal Lake South 8, Wheeling 3: Brenden Spillane homered and doubled in a 3-for-4 effort at the plate, but the visiting Wildcats couldn't keep up with the Gators' run production rate in a nonconference loss.
Spillane also swiped two bases, and Marty Falkiner had 2 hits.